I've never been into what am I going to do next, trying to reinvent myself.

I'm convinced that we Black women possess a special indestructible strength that allows us to not only get down, but to get up, to get through, and to get over.

People do see me as sweet and innocent. Not to say that I am not those things. But I have other sides to me.

Competition is great. And as long as it's friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it's cool.

I don't believe in luck. ... It's persistence, hard work, and not forgetting your dream.

I can be happy with who I am, not what I should be, or what I might have been, or what someone tells me I must be.

Believe in yourself. Have faith in yourself because no one else is going to.

It has taken me most of my adult life to come to terms with who I am. To do that, I had to break free of attitudes that brought me down.

In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

The greatest achievement to any human being is to love God, yourself, and others.

Every body type is different - that's what makes you unique. What makes you special is you, and you are different from the next person.

...they say [Finn] has tasted the Nuts of Wisdom." Elatha laughed. "Perhaps the Nuts of Wisdom will gird him against your sister.

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.

Black Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time.

All theory of modernity in sociology suggests that the more modernity there is, the less religion. In my theory we can realize that this is wrong: atheism is only one belief system among many.

Experience really does make you better, man.

In high school and college, I was an athlete.

It is really important that you live in a place that has good energy. Where you sleep, where you dream, where you meditate, where you spend a lot of time is key.

When I hear music which is really exciting, I get really excited, and when I hear music which is really boring, I get really upset. I get angry.

I've spent my life trying to make things simpler.

That's one of the things about being married to a couple of musicians, I have got great iPods. That's what I was left with -- an iPod each.